Coring apparatus for taking samples of the ocean floor

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for extracting a core from the ocean floor which includes a core tube that is held in a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;cocked&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; position, and can be driven into the ocean floor by a set of elastic bands when the restraining cord is cut. An extracting collar, also held in a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;cocked&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; position and powered by elastic bands is used to extract the core tube, with its core, from the ocean floor when collar&#39;&#39;s restraining cord is cut.

4 n l iJmte States ten [15] 3,666,626 Greene 30, 1972 [54] COG APP 1 it 2,499,433 3 1950 Waite eta]. ..73/425 UX SAMPLES OF THE UCEAN 3,515,382 6/1970 Gallagher ..267/153 x t 2,818,852 1/1958 Kugler ....73/425.2 [72] inventor. Michael L. Greene, Hillcrest He1ghts, Md. 3,509,772 5/1970 Blair I "175/5 [73] Assignee: The United States of America as 3,165,931 1/1965 Shipek ..175/6 represented by the Secretary of the Navy Primary ExaminerL0uis R. Prince 2 I d: t. 197 [2 1 Fl 8 Sep 0 Assistant Examiner-Daniel M. Yasich [21] Appl. No.: 75,519 Attorney-R. S. Sciascia, Arthur L. Branning and J. G. Murray 52 US. Cl ..175/189, 73/425, 173/31, [57] ABSTRACT 175/6 An apparatus for extracting a core from the ocean floor which [51] Knt. C1. ..E2lb 1/00, GOln 1/08 includes a Core tube that is held in a posmon and [58] Fleld of Search ..73/421 R; 175/6, 5, 189; can be driven into the Ocean floor by a set of elastic bands 267/153; 74/2 when the restraining cord is cut. An extracting collar, also held in a cocked position and powered by elastic bands is [56] References cued used to extract the core tube, with its core, from the ocean UNITED STATES PATENTS floor when collars restraining cord is cut.

2,798,378 7/1957 Del Raso et al ..73/425.2 X 3 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure -25 1 /5 E '/5 l4 /2 13 l\ /3 g 75 5 /9' vn F? /9 Z 1 l la Patented May 30, 1972 I l 3,666,028

, INVENTOR. MICHAEL L. GREENE ATTORNEY CORING APPARATUS FOR TAKING SAMPLES OF THE OCEAN FLOOR STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to the use of a coring system suitable for use by a manned deep submersible so that bottom samples may be taken at locations selected by the crew of the manned deep submersible without endangering the crew.

Some of the prior art coring systems used one set of rockets mounted on the coring tube to drive the coring tube into the bottom and then a second set of rockets to withdraw the tube. Others use a weight which drives the core tube down upon being released and are withdrawn by a cable from the ship tender. While others use tender power to drive and withdraw the coring tube by cable. These systems have disadvantages in that they are either dangerous, as in the case of the rockets, excessive in weight or require the tender to supply the mechanical power needed to operate the coring system.

The invention overcomes these disadvantages in that it is a simple, relatively light and safe coring system usable at the operating depths of a manned deep submersible. The invention is in essence self-contained in that the power to drive and withdraw the core tube is stored within the device by elastic bands which are prestressed and released by command from the tender, which may be a manned deep submersible or a diver.

The objects other than above noted will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The sole drawing contains a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawing, the corer consists of three basic parts, the outer slotted case which is fixedly attached to the base 11 and the core tube 12, which is slidably fitted inside the cylindrical body of case 10. The core tube 12 has fixedly attached thereto four rods 13 which extend radially outward through slots in the case 10 and through the sliding core tube drive collar 14 to which the rods 13 are fixedly attached. The outer ends of the rods 13 serve as attaching points for the elastic bands 15 which are used to drive the core tube 12 into the ocean bottom when the core tube restraining cord 16 is cut by the cord cutter 17. The restraining cord 16 is connected between the case 10 and the core tube 12. The other ends of the elastic bands 15 are attached to rods 18 which extend out from the sliding extractor collar 19. The sliding extractor collar 19 is slidably mounted on the outside of impact collar 19 and is restrained in a lower position by a restraining cord 20 interwoven between rods 18 and/or 24 and restraining rods 21 which extend radially out from the base. The restraining cord 20 is severed by cord cutter 22 to release the sliding extractor collar 19 allowing the sliding extractor collar to move upward and strike the impact collar 19' causing the core tube to be extracted. The energy used to move the sliding extractor collar 19 is supplied by elastic bands 23 having the lower end attached to rods 24 extending outwardly from the sliding extractor collar 19 and the upper ends attached to rods 25 which extend outwardly from a fixed collar 26 attached to the case 10 above the core tube drive collar 14.

The cord cutters may merely be the manual operation of cutting the cord or some form of controlled cutting such as electric cord cutters, which consist of a shielded heat releasing material, which melts the nylon cord upon application of the electrical power or a controlled knife blade.

Though designed for use by a manned deep submersible the corer may be handled by a single diver if the proper floatation is supplied, thus allowing a single diver to take core samples with relative ease.

In normal operation the corer is in an unloaded state, without the elastic bands. The restraining cords l6 and 20 are then attached to hold the core tube 12 in the upper position and the sliding extractor collar 19 in the lower position.

The position of the core tube 12 above the sea floor and the position of the sliding extractor collar 19 may be controlled by the length of the restraining cords l6 and 20 respectively. The elastic bands 15 and 23 are then stretched and attached to their respective collars, that is stretched between rods 13-18 and 23-25, respectively. Safety pins could be supplied to lock the core tube 12 and sliding extractor collar 19 in place during loading.

Having loaded the corer, it is ready to be transported to the sampling site in the cocked position by the tender. Upon selecting the sampling site, the corer is placed in position with the base resting on the ocean bottom. To take the sample the cord cutter 17 is operated cutting the restraining cord 16. This releases the core tube which is driven into the bottom by the elastic bands 15. The core tube collar 14 moves downward, driven by the force of the elastic bands 15 until it impacts on the impact collar 19. The sample may be extracted by cutting the restraining cord 20. The sample is held in the tube on withdrawal by a core catcher," not shown, which may be a set of one-way fingers located around the inside of the core tube pointing in an upward direction which grip the sample to prevent it from sliding out of the core tube 12. Upon cutting the restraining cord 20, the elastic bands 23 cause the sliding extractor collar 19 and impact collar 19' to move upwardly against the core tube collar 14 thereby withdrawing the core tube and sample, the upward movement is continued until the core tube collar 14 impacts upon the upper ends of the slots in the case 10 because of the rods 13 extending therethrough. A shock isolator collar (not shown) could be placed at the upper end of the casing slots to absorb any shock and protect the slots from possible damage from the impact. Now the corer is ready to be removed from the site by the tender which may be any means of underwater transportation or even surface transportation by use of a cable to lower the corer to the bottom.

It is understood that the attachment points of the elastic bands need not be rods but could be connected directly to the collar or the collar could be modified to use springs as the driving force.

According to the present invention elastic means are used to store the energy to drive and extract the core samples.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A core sampler for removing samples from a surface, comprising:

a core tube in an outer case, and

separate elastic band means each connected to said coring tube and to an outer case for driving and extracting said core tube.

2. The core sampler defined in claim 1 wherein said core sampler includes first and second restraining means each connected to said coring tube and to said outer case for holding each said separate elastic means in a pretensioned state,

said separate elastic band means comprising a first and a second elastic means,

wherein said first restraining means on a first command from a remote control source releases said core tube to be driven into said surface by said first elastic means, and said second restraining means releases the coring tube to be extracted by said second elastic means on a second command from said control source.

extracting said core tube from said surface,

second means for restraining connected to said casing and to said extracting means, said second means restraining said extracting means in an ineffective position on said casing,

said extracting means comprising second elastic band means connected to said casing and to said extracting means for supplying extracting power upon release of said second means for restraining.

a k 1k it n 

1. A core sampler for removing samples from a surface, comprising: a core tube in an outer case, and separate elastic band means each connected to said coring tube and to an outer case for driving and extracting said core tube.
 2. The core sampler defined in claim 1 wherein said core sampler includes first and second restraining means each connected to said coring tube and to said outer case for holding each said separate elastic means in a pretensioned state, said separate elastic band means comprising a first and a second elastic means, wherein said first restraining means on a first command from a remote control source releases said core tube to be driven into said surface by said first elastic means, and said second restraining means releases the coring tube to be extracted by said second elastic means on a second command from said control source.
 3. A core sampler for removing samples from a surface, comprising: a base plate having a casing connected thereto, a core tube which is slidably mounted inside said casing, first means for restraining said core tube in a cocked position connected to said casing and said core tube, first elastic band means connected to the casing and to said core tube for driving said core tube into said surface upon the release of the first means for restraining, extracting means mounted on said casing for engaging and extracting said core tube from said surface, second means for restraining connected to said casing and to said extracting means, said second means restraining said extracting means in an ineffective position on said casing, said extracting means comprising second elastic band means connected to said casing and to said extracting means for supplying extracting power upon release of said second means for restraining. 